The White House has abruptly announced that it is terminating funding for NIH RECOVER grants studying Long COVID that had been awarded in 2022 and 2023, effectively stopping 45 studies that were already underway and almost complete. That means the information is there, but it may never get to the public.

“It’s crazy to cut off a study at this point,” Meghan Fitzgerald told C&EN. “I know there’s pushback, saying we need to have more fiscal responsibility. But this is the opposite of fiscal responsibility. You’re just burning dollars here.”

Many of the studies were researching the biological mechanisms involved in Long COVID, including one study investigating whether people with Long COVID have any underlying genetic particularities that make them susceptible to the condition. Another study was designed to look at the physiology of brain fog, including in teens and young adults.  

“These are the studies that were going to tell researchers, tell clinicians worldwide, this is what long COVID looks like in the human body,” Fitzgerald told C&EN. “These are the areas we need to focus on in order to treat it. This work is incredibly important. It’s a predecessor to clinical trials. It’s a predecessor to drug development.”

The White House also withdrew funding for grants at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAID) and CDC to do with both COVID and Long COVID. Grant termination letters were sent to the principal investigators for 29 grants at NIAID. The federal administration also withdrew public health grant funding from the CDC promised to state public health agencies. The initiatives supplied by this funding were diverse, but all were related to COVID or Long COVID, and included vaccinations and public education.

The White House halted this Long COVID studies despite promises from HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr  to continue prioritizing Long COVID.